등산 참여자의 친환경 행동과 레크리에이션 전문화가 삶의 만족에 미치는 영향

This study aims to confirm the effects of pro-environmental behavior and recreation specialization on life satisfaction in the context of hiking participants, which will lead to the knowledge expansion in the leisure and well-being field. Based on the theoretical logics from the literature review, two hypotheses were proposed. These were tested with the survey data collected from the 210 Korean hiking participants. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed that hiking participants’ pro-environmental behavior can be categorized as “garbage disposal”, “preservative behavior”, and “following designated trails only,” and recreation specialization can also be divided into three categories, namely, “behavior”, “skill and knowledge”, and “commitment.” The hypothesis test showed that only two categories of pro-environmental behavior, which are “garbage disposal” and “following designated trails only”, have positive effects on life satisfaction; however, “preservative behavior” did not show a significant effect. Regarding the relationship between recreation specialization and life satisfaction, all three categories (i.e., “behavior”, “skill and knowledge”, and “commitment”) positively affected life satisfaction of hiking participants. This study implies that the life satisfaction attained with pro-environmental behavior from hiking activity might be offset by restraining or not fulfilling their nature contact desires. It also implies that to enhance people’s wellbeing, more specialized forms of hiking should be encouraged.